Venice Glass Week features Captured Moments by glass artist Rhian Hâf

Captured Moments is an exhibition that presents subtle yet dramatic effects of light through glass. It is an exploration of how we interact with our surroundings and what we may or may not notice about our everyday environment.
29 Aug 2018

Rhian Hâf, an award-winning glass artist from North Wales, is presenting her widely admired work in Venice in Italy this September. Rhian’s exhibition Captured Moments is an installation of glass and light, including film, drawings and photographs. Captured Moments was selected by the jury of Venice Glass Week to be featured in this year’s programme. Captured Moments opens in Venice on Sunday 9 September and will be presented alongside other exhibitions, seminars, films and discussions about contemporary international glass design.

Rhian Hâf said, "I am thrilled that I have been selected for Venice Glass Week and for my work to be shown alongside that of many international designers that I admire."

This is a prized platform at which to present work, as Venice Glass Week draws international attention to individual creative practitioners working with glass. The celebratory week is programmed during the esteemed Architecture Biennale in Venice, an event that attracts crowds of specialists from around the world.

Captured Moments will be shown in an historic, central venue in Venice, Campo San Stefano, near the foot of the Accademia Bridge, en route to San Marco Square. This is a phenomenal location in terms of being readily visited by tourist, local and professional audiences. A highly regarded local partner, Venice Art Factory, is supporting Captured Moments. This connection will introduce Rhian’s work to a new audience and facilitate further opportunities and openings.

Venice Art Factory’s Luca Berta said, "We are delighted to be presenting Captured Moments in Venice, the work extends our appreciation of what is possible in contemporary glass design."

Captured Moments explores the effects of light and glass. Highly polished clear pieces of glass are mounted in bespoke viewing boxes and lit by LED lights at slight variances of angles. The light is refracted through the glass and the shadows are captured in the boxes; as distinct as drawing on a page. It is an installation that comprises twelve wall-mounted boxes presenting a series of twelve glass pieces. It also includes a film that explores light, original drawings and photographs.

The inspiration for Captured Moments is the shafts of light caught through narrow Venetian alleyways. Highly skilled in glass design, Rhian is intrigued by the possibility of harnessing these natural lighting effects through architectural design. Rhian has collaborated with industry to develop the work for the exhibition, working with hand-size pieces of glass in a tightly controlled environment. The potential to apply her findings to larger scale urban design however, is very exciting.

Rhian Hâf has received funding from Wales Arts International to support the realisation of her exhibition in Venice. She has also received sponsorship from Caerphilly based Specialist Precast Projects and support from both Ruthin Craft Centre and the Glass Department at University of Wales, Trinity Saint David.